Some people fear that cell phone jammers could disrupt phone service for law-abiding people close to prisons. However, modern jamming technology can be narrowly targeted to minimize disruption to people outside of prison walls.
It’s time to fix the federal regulations that prohibit jamming device technology and give prisons the tools they need to fight contraband.
Installing jammers in prisons would turn inmates’ cell phones into paperweights, disrupting their criminal networks and drying up a major source of contraband.
Overreliance on GPS signals is rampant in day-to-day life from data networks, financial systems, health networks, rail, road, aviation and marine transport, to shipping and agriculture. Military platforms commonly use GPS to find their position, navigate and execute missions.
BAE and Lockheed are not alone in their efforts to develop better, more robust systems. Other countries have developed their systems, including Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, and China's COMPASS.
Another related issue is the use of GPS. The FAA has been working to upgrade aging radar-based systems with GPS networks for air traffic control and positioning. It should improve safety and pilot awareness. But GPS signals are notoriously vulnerable to disruption: They're relatively weak to begin with, using just 25 watts to send signals from satellites that are roughly 12,500 miles above the Earth. It's so easy to block such signals that GPS jammers are sold online for $30.
Simply allocating specific radio spectrum to particular devices does not entirely solve the problem either. A recent example is LightSquared, a company that wants to build a network of 40,000 towers across the country to deliver broadband Internet access using the 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) wireless data protocols. The company wants to use a frequency spectrum near the existing GPS L1 band. (Consumer GPS devices typically rely on L1 signals, in the 1575.42 MHz wavelength.)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service will conduct mysterious midnight drone flights over the next few weeks in parts of Washington, often a strict no-fly zone, as part of a secret government test aimed at , find ways to jam or shoot rogue drones out of the sky.
A U.S. official with knowledge of the program said the Secret Service is testing drones for law enforcement or protection work and looking at methods such as signal jamming to stop the threat of civilian drones. The drones were flown between 1am and 4am. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the plans publicly. The Secret Service said the details were classified.
Some consumer-grade drones, often with cameras, are powerful enough to carry small amounts of explosives or grenades.
The challenge for the Secret Service is to quickly detect an illegal drone flying near the White House or the President's seat, then hack it for a short period of time to control its flight, or jam its signal to throw it off course or crash it.
The Secret Service said only that it would publicly test the drones over Washington, but declined to provide specifics, such as when they would fly, how many drones would be flying, which parts of the city they would fly over, how long they would be flying and for what purpose. It decided to give the public early notice of the tests out of concern that people who saw them might panic, especially after they were spotted over Paris at night recently. Flying at night also reduces the possibility of radio interference accidentally affecting nearby businesses, drivers, pedestrians and tourists.
Under U.S. communications law, it is illegal to sell or use mobile signal jammer unless a government agency is doing so for a narrow purpose.
Depending on the drone's manufacturer and capabilities, its flight control and video broadcast systems typically use the same common radio frequencies as popular Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies. Secret Service drone radio frequency jamming—depending on how powerful or precise its work is—could disrupt nearby Internet networks or phone conversations until it was shut down. Testing in real-world environments around the White House will reveal unintended effects of disruptive effects on nearby buildings, monuments or tall trees.
Federal agencies typically need approval from the U.S. telecommunications advisory body, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to jam signals. The agency declined to tell The Associated Press whether the Secret Service seeks permission, as the agency said such requests are not routinely made public.
The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that it has formally authorized the Secret Service to fly drones and granted it a special waiver to fly over Washington. The agency declined to provide details about the secretive program.
In January, a wayward quadcopter drone piloted by an off-duty US intelligence officer landed on the White House lawn. At the time, the Secret Service said the false landing appeared to be accidental and was not considered a security threat.
The agency had been studying safety issues surrounding drones before the January crash, but that crash led the agency to focus more on the safety of small, hard-to-detect drones. on security issues. Previously released reports revealed that the Secret Service had used anti-tracking jammer in the presidential and vice-presidential motorcade to disrupt signals that could detonate hidden remote-triggered improvised explosive devices.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate are working on strategies to intercept unauthorized drones flying in secure areas. The Department of Homeland Security's research arm is trying to balance the security concerns of small, hard-to-detect devices with emerging commercial uses and hobbyist interests. Likewise, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said last week that it was studying how the United States could address privacy risks through increased use of drones.
Since January 1, 2018, importing and owning a jammer has been strictly prohibited in Switzerland and the countries of the European Union. The regulations for these devices, which are also known as "signal blockers" or "jammers", have been tightened up because the ban previously only applied to placing them on the market and using them. Jammers can be dangerous because they block all cell phone traffic, making emergency calls impossible. Most of the time, advertisements for these types of devices are deceptive: they give the impression that their use is legal, and fail to make it clear that even possession is illegal.
Previously expensive, bulky and limited to neutralizing mobile phone traffic in the GSM 900 MHz frequency band, portable jammer have followed technological developments. They have become smaller and cheaper and can now interfere with a large part of the spectrum. With some models, not only mobile phone bands (GSM, UMTS, LTE, ...), but also positioning systems (GPS, Glonass, Galileo, ...), data transmission networks (WLAN, RLAN, WiMax, ...) or wireless alarm systems to be disturbed. Utilization has also evolved. While in the past the devices were only used to stop cell phone conversations on trains, restaurants or cinemas, today they are also used for criminal activities: theft of cars or trucks transporting valuable goods (by disabling the vehicle's tracking), theft in houses and homes (by neutralizing the wireless alarm system), etc.
Due to the spread of jammers, the law had to be tightened: When an amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TCA) came into force on January 1, 2018, the import and possession of drone jammer was prohibited. The manufacture, offering, making available on the market, commissioning, creation and operation of these devices also remain punishable.
With the ban of this type of installation on its national territory, Switzerland follows the EU member states and other countries such as e.g. B. the United States.
The use of jammers is strictly prohibited, as they not only cause inconvenience to radio spectrum users and encourage criminal activity, but can also have serious security consequences. In this way, emergency calls in the event of an accident or the alerting of emergency services such as the fire brigade, police or ambulance can be blocked. This can also cause serious problems in civil aviation, which is increasingly using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to improve navigation performance and air traffic control monitoring activities.
In the FMG, the use of gsm jammer is tantamount to intentional interference with the radio frequency spectrum, which can be punished with a fine of up to CHF 100,000. OFCOM systematically intervenes in such cases
It is different in prisons. Detainees use their cell phones to organize criminal activities or plan an escape. Another example is defusing explosive objects that can be detonated by radio. The FMG expressly provides penal institutions and police authorities with the option of using jamming systems to prevent mobile phone calls in their vicinity. The operation of such a system must be approved in advance by OFCOM.